The Descendants

The Descendants, starring George Clooney as a workaholic father who must cope with his wife dying and stepping up as a father to his two kids while also dealing with a very big land deal of a piece of land that he owns due to a trust. This land has been from their descendants, their ancestors and since it is not being used as anything, a majority of the family believe they should sell it and they will make a lot of money in Hawaii.
The Descendants begins with the wife on a boat then goes black. We hear George Clooney via voice over. He is telling the audience he lives in Hawaii, that despite living in such an exotic state, it is no different than any other place with pollution, poverty, and the occasional violence. His character, Matt King, is a workaholic lawyer who is never around his family until this tragic event occurs and he has to learn to be a parent. Via voice over, when he is picking up his young daughter, Scottie, after a meeting with her teacher and says that he hasn’t held her hand since she was three; she is now 10. His older daughter, Alexandra, is recovering drug addict who basically needs to grow up as well and take on the mother role.
One of the many themes that the film deals with is role of the father as an authority figure. Matt King (George Clooney) via voice over, admits in the first couple minutes of the film, that he is always working,and instead of letting his family splurge on money, he was extremely strict with how he does things. He sort of represents that old 1950s image: the father is the breadmaker while mom stays at home and takes care of kids. The reality is that Matt King is incredibly out of place when it’s his turn to be parent. He attempts to do “I’m the father” bit, but that does not fly with his daughters.
Throughout the film he is always telling Alexandra or anyone not to curse in front of Scottie. She may be 10, but she is a smart girl and knows the language. The best scene that seems to represent this mentality and how completely out of touch Matt King is with reality, when he brings Alexandra to see her mom and she begins to let out how she really feels about her mother, Matt King spanks his 17 year old daughter. Unless this father and daughter were having an incestuous S&M relationship, he is clueless being a father, let alone a parent. The role of authority he is attempting to grasp on to, has long changed. Times have changed. The role of authority has changed.
Another element is the cinematography. How the cinematographer was able to capture the beauty of Hawaii to its lush beaches and pristine crisp blue waters. One of favorite shots was when they go see the land and the camera pans to the right and you this vast incredible beautiful piece of uninhabited land. In personal opinion, there could have been more shots of the “ugly” side of Hawaii other than the shots from the beginning of the film. The dirty, poor, polluted Hawaii exists, let the audience see. The ugliness can also be seen as a reflection of what Matt King goes through.

I personally liked the film although I thought there was something missing. George Clooney gives a heartfelt performance as a man learning to be a parent, a role that his character does not know how to play. The shots of Hawaii are gorgeous and capture Hawaii although there could be more of the ugly Hawaii that no one sees. That would really create a mood intense mood throughout the film.